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Monday, 22 June 2015

I dont like theism but I have many theist friends

Yes, it is possible.It is possible to like theists without liking theism. Even with the contempt I hold for their religion, which they are very well aware of, I do have many theist friends. To take it a step further, I have a friend who used to do ministry work in Africa and we agree on more issues regarding religion than I do with some atheists. I think for my theist friends, not to sound vain I actually am a pretty decent person, it is difficult to reconcile their beliefs and the fact that I reject these beliefs with my nature. Let me also say that my theist friends are not crazy fundamentalists and they believe in equality for all.

So, would I be friends with a fundamentalist theist?
Honestly it depends on what the religion is. If they were part of an Abrahamic religion I am certain my answer would be no. However, if they were a fundamentalist Raelian I am pretty sure we could be friends as I do enjoy a bit of the crazy. Seriously, who does not want a friend that dresses like this guy in the picture? If the fundamentalist was part of the Heavens Gate Cult, well they would be dead so I would be minus a friend.

In my opinion, moderate theism is a problem for the world as beliefs do affect peoples actions. On the other hand, fundamental theism ia a major problem. We just have to look at hate groups like the Westboro Baptist Church or ISIS to clearly understand this. Its my belief however that this problem runs deeper with moderate theism giving a platform for fundamentalists. As long as there are people that fundamentalist believe are just being mislead they will exist. Of course they could believe that all non-believers are mislead, yet this position is harder to hold when no one believes the tripe written in your holy text. Just imagine a world where the only place you can find a religious text is a dusty library!

This is why I do not like theism as I believe it is not healthy in any way or form for people and the planet. That said I still have theist friends, and I just wish they would make the next rational and logical step.